


Traction

by drowning_fish



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2013-11-27
Packaged: 2017-12-31 08:46:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1029687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drowning_fish/pseuds/drowning_fish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't a connection. It was blindly crashing into each other, because both were in the dark. It was trying to find the light switch, but only finding another breath. It was trying to survive. It was the only way to survive. It was the end of wanting the end. It was them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Routine Dreaming

**Author's Note:**

> This is an amazing humanstuck idea I had that started out as a one-shot but then I got really happy and carried away, so instead you guys get this giant fic. You're absolutely welcome. It'll be emotional and sad and definitely dramatic because I'm as much of a sap as Karkat. This might deal with touchy themes in the future, but right now it's just a bunch of piano fuckups.
> 
> This will probably grow to be really long but we'll see... and it's actually the first long davekat I ever wrote.
> 
> ** Tell me what you think and persevere through, my lovelies. **
> 
> ~And props to my editor for dealing with whatever ramblings I start out with that she has to go over~

A single note rang out through the air.

“John?”

The note kept ringing and soon became a full chord. It bent into an introduction, while Dave entered John’s house and put the spare key back under the welcome mat.

“Egbert, dude, are you playing the piano again?”

A faint voice replied, coming from a room in the back, "Dave!"

A simple four-count beat was being tapped out in the background of the song being played, with no further reply.

“Are you actually ignoring me?” Dave sounded tired for a second, “You know what I’m just coming in.”

He pushed open the door to John’s room quietly, deciding to sit next to Egbert while he played, but Dave decided against it when he realized John was nowhere to be found.

Dave raised his eyebrows and mouthed, “Karkat?”

A small figure was at the piano, playing every measure of the song perfectly. He didn't hear or see the door open, so Dave tried to shut it as slowly as possible and then step inside. It would’ve worked if Dave didn’t trip and curse loudly.

Karkat smashed his hands on the keys out of shock and ended the song abruptly. He turned around with wide eyes, “What the fuck are you here for?”

 “This is my main man’s house. I should ask you why you’re here.”

The shorter boy balled his hands into fists on the piano and hissed, “It’s none of your stupid fucking business. Leave.”

Dave looked around and called, “Eggy, where you at?”

“Dave! I’m happy to see you! I thought I heard you coming inside.” John walked into the room while grinning, “Karkat and I have been practicing piano together, and he has some big performance coming up, so I’ve been helping-“

“Sure, just tell my life story to the fuckass with the stupid shades.”

“Hey these shades are the sickest things ever.”

John laughed, “You two are so funny when you fight. Oh hold on, I’m not being a good host! I’ll get you all something to eat.”

Dave started to protest but John walked out to get everyone food anyways. That was convenient, because Karkat chose this moment to get up and punch Dave in the face, acting without any rational thinking. Even more surprising than Karkat's outburst, Dave didn't seem angry or hurt in the slightest. He wrapped his arm around Karkat's shoulders and smiled. 

"I want to see you play."

Karkat gulped and sat down in front of the piano with the blond boy. He started playing for Dave, which confused him. Why the fuck would he willingly play for this asshole? And more importantly, why was he playing everything right?

"That was almost better than John." Dave smiled and opened his mouth again, only to produce a mismatching chord noise. 

"What the actual shit was that?" 

There was a sharp pain in his arm and Karkat snapped out of his daydream.

\---

John's voice filtered in, along with the stabbing metal zipper of his hoodie, "Karkat, be careful with your fingers. Keep your elbows up. Otherwise you're doing a great job!" 

"What?" Karkat snapped out of his trance, "Get off me, Egbert! Are you trying to gouge a fucking hole in my side? Do you want my blood to pour out of me in a goddamn waterfall? Because I seemed to be full of bullshit when it comes to piano, so I might as well might make room for more of my bullshit by throwing out some of my fucking internal organs!" 

He was blushing when he thought about his little daydream again.

"Calm down. You're doing fine." John gave a reassuring smile, "Practice makes perfect, don't worry!"

Karkat scowled and bit at the skin on his lower lip anxiously, "The absuridity of you even suggesting that I'd ever make it to perfection is almost as stupid as thinking about Dave not being a douchebag."

"He's not that bad. I actually think you guys would get along!" John rubbed the dust off of an A# key. "Do you want to run through the bridge one more time? You were doing pretty well."

The melody from his imagination was playing again, but this time more choppy and off tempo. John watched Karkat's fingers carefully, reminding him to sit up straight every once in a while.

"That was very good."

"Don't even lie to me. That was the worst display of piano playing you've probably ever seen in your life. I hate this stupid instrument almost as much as I hate-" Karkat paused only for a second, to avoid saying the word that would complete his thoughts, "life. I fucking hate this song and everything else too."

John sighed, "You were doing a really good job. Don't be mad at the song or the piano! You just need a little bit of practice. It's alright!" He flashed a dorky grin and even Karkat's rage had to melt at that.

"I guess I could use some practice," Karkat's voice was almost inaudible, "It's not the piano's fault. It's my shitstain of a brain's fault."

John looked concerned, "Try not to be so angry for once. It's not anybody's fault. Just practice more. You're improving! And you improved all by yourself."

Karkat completed his thoughts now, "Myself," and then rolled his eyes.

"See? You're an amazing piano player!"

 _I'm just amazingly stupid,_ Karkat thought,  _I never should've done this in the first place. This was the worst fucking idea I ever had. I'm such a dumbass._

Karkat ran a hand through his messy black hair as he tried to remember what he was thinking the day that he decided to take piano lessons from John. 


	2. Train Tracks

The noise from a train going by is annoying. From far away, it is an incessant tapping noise. A steady clack that gets thrown out at an even pace, and tells you when a bigass piece of metal shit is coming. Karkat had lived near train tracks for as long as he could remember, and could recognize this noise in his sleep. The only unfamiliar detail was the fact that he heard this in John’s room.

“What the fuck is that?”

John stopped flicking something on his hand with a nail, “This?”

“Yes. That stupid fucking clicking sound. It sounds like a goddamn insect.”

“It’s nothing, bro! I was just tapping this little plastic thingy.”

Karkat raised an eyebrow and stared.

“See, my best bro gave me this. Or he pretended like I dropped it and shoved it at my face.” John laughed, “Dave is so silly.”

The name sounded familiar. It pestered Karkat like an old bruise, dull at first but then worse and worse.

John seemed to remember something and put a hand on Karkat’s shoulder, “Oh, but don’t tell him that I told you he gave it to me. He didn’t even seem like he wanted to talk about it in the first place. I think that’s dumb because it’s such a nice friendship bracelet.”

The bright red band on John’s arm was closed off with a clear piece of plastic, the source of the stupid tapping noise. Karkat winced at the color. He was never too fond of crimson.

“This Dave guy sounds like an absolute douchebag.”

“No! Dave’s kinda silly but I think he’s a really good person deep down.” As always, John’s classic dorky smile melted some of Karkat’s anger.

Some. His anger was still pretty… well… angry.

“I even made him a matching one.” John pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his pictures, “But his is blue. See, I said it was matching but then it was blue! What a great prank.”

Karkat smacked his forehead with his palm and wondered why he even talked to Egbert in the first place, and then slowly looked up to see John’s phone, along with a pale boy on screen. Karkat started biting at his own lip again, distracted by the stupid fucking jaw of the person he was staring at, and the way his thin lips pulled into a slight smirk. John smiled and pointed at the blue bracelet on the supposed “Dave’s” wrist, while Karkat dug his nails into his palm and scowled. He worked himself up into frustration, refusing to admit how much he really liked the picture. Karkat inhaled a little, and proceeded to test how well he could feign absolute annoyance. (Of course he was annoyed but... also a little excited.)

“Your friend seems fucking stupid.”

John sighed, “Dave is really nice. Or ‘cool’ like he says. You want to meet him sometime? I always wanted to hang out with all of you at once!”

Karkat thought about it. It couldn’t kill to try talking to the pretty-boy asshole he saw on screen. And if it killed to try, all the better.

A huff and then agreement, “Sure.”

John started making that annoying clicking noise with his bracelet again, and Karkat couldn’t get out fast enough.

“Bye Karkat!”

He threw a light gray overcoat on and called a goodbye to John over his shoulder. A quiet evening on his computer was what Karkat wanted, and what Vantas wanted, he would get, for now.

The picture of Dave only flicked across Karkat’s mind once before the next day. He heard the clicking from John's room earlier in the day, and remembered he was going to meet the douchebag later. Karkat heard the noise when a train was coming on its 9 pm route, and remembered this was the familiar train he always looked at as a kid. This was the one where he would always wait for the metal to rush by, and then feel the wind push back on his messy hair. It was a shitty memory, but it was nice, less shitty than all the other crap clogging up his brain.

Karkat remembered it as his train.

Next day, however, the picture flicked by a lot. It must have been because of nerves, Karkat hated meeting new people. It made him anxious, so he called one of the only bastards who could calm him down.

A dial tone, two rings, three, and then a lazy voice sprawled through the phone, “What’s up, brother? I was just contemplating the meaning of motherfucking-”

“I don’t have time for this bullshit.”

“Come on my little bro. Calm down for a motherfuckin’ minute and just enjoy some of the all natural beauty of silence.”

“Gamzee, I swear to all the fucks of everything-”

“Man, that’s not silence.” Gamzee sounded perfectly serene, “Breathe little dude. Just breathe. Let the miracles flow through you bro.”

Karkat was tempted to just end the call already, but decided to go along with whatever the fuck was happening.

He took a deep breath, “Okay. Hooray, I’m so fucking tranquil now.” It wasn’t a total lie.

“That’s what I like to hear, motherfucker. Just call me whenever you’re all up and nervous like that. I’ll untie the motherfuckin’ bundle of nerves you’re tying up all in you.”

Karkat sighed, “Sure, whatever,” and then ended the call. After he was sure the call was over, Karkat said a quiet “thank you” to the silence on the other end. He was now calm enough to open the door and walk outside to meet John’s douchebag friend. While squinting in the sun, Karkat thought, “This is the first and last time I see this guy. Just fucking get it over with.” He picked and prodded at every possible shitty conversation starter he knew, until they started to lose the small amount of meaning they used to have. It didn’t matter. Small talk barely has any meaning to begin with. By the time Karkat remembered how to say hello, he found himself at John’s door.

Karkat banged on it twice and waited while feeling nausea start up in his stomach. He felt panic, and his hand went down to his phone automatically, Karkat could feel himself wanting to text Gamzee so he could feel that strange feeling of relaxation that washed over while talking to his best friend. Karkat thought about bolting and pretending he never knocked on the door. He could just be an inconsiderate fuckass and say that he forgot to even think about meeting John today. A million different scenarios started flipping by, and Karkat tried to decide which one was the least stupid excuse.

“Hi!” John’s face was grinning out from the opened doorway.

Karkat sighed and crossed his arms defensively, “I’m here now.”

John smiled and opened the door wider. Karkat was still reluctant to step inside, so John ended up having to pull Karkat into his house.

“I think I can at least walk by myself, Egbert.”

“Well then, Mr. I-can-do-everything. Should I show you in or can you show yourself in somehow?”

Karkat grumbled at John’s ridiculous grin and allowed himself to be led to the couch.

“Dave! Where’d you go?”

A reply came from the kitchen, saying something about apple juice.

“It’s in the fridge, just look a little harder,” John called back.

Karkat raised an eyebrow, “Apple juice?”

The kitchen voice again, “A man’s got to have his AJ.”

Karkat would’ve loved to duct tape his mouth shut, because he could feel it open up a little bit when John’s friend walked out of the kitchen. He couldn’t help it. The douchebag’s blonde hair and aviators were a nice combination. Karkat could feel himself biting at his lip again out of habit.

“So is this the friend you were talking about?”

John was smiling, “Yes! Dave, this is Karkat! Karkat, this is Dave!”

“Yeah, uh, hi.”

Dave nodded his head in Karkat’s direction, “Sup little dude.”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re a little dude. Is that a surprise, or are you too short to look into a mirror?”

John sighed and shook his head, “Dave, play nice.”

“Aw come on egg man,” he punched John in the shoulder, “I’m just messing with him.”

Karkat gritted his teeth, “I didn’t get off my ass and come here just to be fucked with by him.”

“Oh so you want to be fucked with? Hm?” Dave started laughing.

John mumbled, “This isn’t going well.”

“You could scream that into the sky a hundred fucking times and it still wouldn’t be enough because not going well is one hell of an understatement!”

Dave smiled, “Well is one hell... You could almost start spittin’ out a rap off that rhyme. Here I’ll start-”

“No we’re not going to rap for Karkat,” John clapped a hand over Dave’s mouth, but Karkat still saw the tip of his smirk peek over John's fingers.

John looked around and had an idea, "Do you guys want to see this new song I learned?"

Karkat grunted in response.

"Sure dude. Just get your hand off my mouth."

The three of them somehow made it to John's room without more hostility than a few glares. John ushered them in and quickly sat down in front of a black piano.

“Just try to be quiet and listen,” were the last words John said before zoning out.

Karkat had to agree with the slight expression of pride evident in Dave’s face. John was really good.

“Aw shit.”

John stopped his playing, which let Karkat down a little bit, “Dave?”

“My bro wants me to work out with him.” Dave sighed, “You know how it is.” A look of understanding passed between them.

John nodded, “It’s fine! Karkat can you show him out?” John was still obviously trying to make them get along.

“I can’t wait to.”

Dave walked ahead of Karkat without even glancing back, like he didn’t have one shit to give about whether Karkat was leading him out or not.

“Bye, shortie.”

Karkat slammed the door hard, hoping that it caused at least a little damage to Dave’s face. He marched all the way back to John's room and crossed his arms.

“What the fuck was that?”

“You just need to talk to him! He’s really nice, I promise.”

“Yeah I could practically see the nice oozing out of his pores along with all the douche.”

“Don’t be that way.”

Karkat sighed and sat down next to John, “Just play your song.”

“Okay.”

After a few minutes, Karkat realized something. He wasn’t half as worked up as before.

“John?”

John grinned, “Yes?”

“I was wondering if maybe you could, maybe you can, maybe this. Uh…” Karkat tried to answer John’s confusion by pressing a key on the piano.

John was all excitement and smiles, but even more than usual.

“Do you want me to show you how to play?”

Karkat shrugged and felt his cheeks burn.

“That would be so fun! Please let me teach you. You could take lessons with me everyday and we could play lots of songs together! It would be so fun.”

Karkat scratched his head and stared at the piano.

“Just nod for me!”

He pressed down on two keys and heard the sound clash against each  other, “I’d probably be shitty.”

John grinned, “Let’s start now!”

Karkat listened to John teaching him about the notes for all the keys, and he swore he could hear something click when he pressed down on each one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i tried to speak through karkat's voice l ol
> 
> (friendship bracelet idea from blackoutballad : http://blackoutballad.tumblr.com/post/16059076529/i-love-them-as-a-pairing-but-i-also-love-them-when )


End file.
